eBay

123*salmon · ‎05-25-2016

It's been awhile since I have ordered on EBay. Why are we paying an extra shipping called international and custom shipping to a completely different company?

The fee is as much as the items I have bought. We used to just pay shipping to the person we bought the item from.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-26-2016

@123*salmon wrote:
It's been awhile since I have ordered on EBay. Why are we paying an extra shipping called international and custom shipping to a completely different company?
The fee is as much as the items I have bought. We used to just pay shipping to the person we bought the item from.

GSP - Global Shipping Program - used by some sellers in the USA and the UK.

How it works: Seller ships the purchase to Pitney-Bowes central location in the USA (or UK). PB takes the packages in bulk across borders (like to Canada) and handles the collection of all Taxes and Duty plus a processing fee.

Disadvantage: Users buying with mobile devices have more difficulty spotting an item being sold using GSP.

Disadvantage: Canada, for sales under $100, the US seller should have shipped directly to Canada. For the rest of the world GSP is usually a good deal.

How to Spot: Seller ships from USA or UK and listing has "Customs services and international tracking provided"

View solution in original post

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-26-2016

@123*salmon wrote:
It's been awhile since I have ordered on EBay. Why are we paying an extra shipping called international and custom shipping to a completely different company?
The fee is as much as the items I have bought. We used to just pay shipping to the person we bought the item from.

GSP - Global Shipping Program - used by some sellers in the USA and the UK.

How it works: Seller ships the purchase to Pitney-Bowes central location in the USA (or UK). PB takes the packages in bulk across borders (like to Canada) and handles the collection of all Taxes and Duty plus a processing fee.

Disadvantage: Users buying with mobile devices have more difficulty spotting an item being sold using GSP.

Disadvantage: Canada, for sales under $100, the US seller should have shipped directly to Canada. For the rest of the world GSP is usually a good deal.

How to Spot: Seller ships from USA or UK and listing has "Customs services and international tracking provided"

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-26-2016

Another eBay GSP phrase watch out for is "No additional import charges at delivery!"

snolan83 · ‎06-29-2016

As ypdc dennis mentioned, the Global Shipping Program.

To add clarification though your seller is shipping the package to the shipment center in Kentucky (I believe) and it is then distributed by Pitney Bowes.

There is more than 1 disadvantage for Canadian buyers regardless of price: multiple carriers will handle this package (additional damage), it is slower (3+ weeks is normal for a shipment, get stuff from China faster), and far more expensive as you are paying two shipping charges now as the seller simply sends it to Kentucky, then you pay for a separate shipment from the shipping center.

For countries such as say Thailand, it is good as sellers don't have to deal with the worry of shipping to Asia as they just bomb it off to Kentucky so this opens up more sellers.

Overall, poor program for Canadians,this has made eBay not worth the effort to buy from anyone using the GSP.